Once upon a time, the Ottawa Senators were a regular season powerhouse. The rivalry with Toronto was, post-lockout, christened "The Rape and Pillage of Lower Ontario" by Chris Selley of the National Post because of how brutally the newcomers to the NHL would pummel the Heroes. They even made a Stanley Cup Final in 2007! And then a funny thing happened on the way to a repeat appearance in the Final: the Senators imploded.

And so now, the Leafs sport a healthy 11-5-2 record against them over the past three seasons and with the Senators heading towards a battle for 30th for the next couple of seasons that record needs to improve if the Buds want to make the playoffs.

THANKS BE TO BUDDHA! After a long summer, NHL hockey is finally back. The 82 game grind begins with a matchup against the Old Enemy. The Leafs built their playoff push last year in large part on their success within their division. They've not lost a season series to the Canadiens since 2006 which is funny because they've also been the worst team to ever play hockey in that span.

Every fanbase has someone that they worship to a level that may seem unwarranted by an outsider as well as one that they villify to no end. While Leaf fans sometimes get painted as ones that go to further extremes than any other fanbase, that's ludicrous. All fanbases are crazy.

Since everyone can always use some advice about whom to lavish their love/hate upon the staff at LeafsNation have compiled their choices for stars and goats for the upcoming season. Of course, this operates from the expectation that James Reimer cannot fall from grace and that there is no way Mike Komisarek will play his way out of the doghouse.

Somehow, an understrength Toronto Maple Leafs squad overcame the Detroit Red Wings 4-3 in overtime. *Checks calendar* Ah, it was the preseason. Well, that explains Mike Komisarek scoring the winning goal after absolutely dominating during his shift. Jonas Gustavsson made 26 saves on 29 shots to bumps his preseason totals to 82 on 91 for a .901 save percentage. It's still not where it should be but it's progress.